I don't think it should be considered unreasonable for a player that plays on international ice to spend a month or two adjusting to the North American game in the AHL, thats the point of the AHL.
If he can't deal with that, he doesn't belong in this league. Just because he is good in the KHL doesn't mean he can translate that to the NHL, MANY have failed trying to do that, it often takes Russians a few years to get full adjusted, with some special exceptions, like OV.
If he doesn't wanna go through what every single other NHL player has had to deal with to make it, then he doesn't deserve to play.
I agree Gav and we don't know the full back story here and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I read quite a bit about the situation (at least what was available). The first AHL "demotion" according to everyone at the time (McPhee, Ship) was merely supposed to be a paper, financial transaction allowing them time to deal one or more Dmen. Ship could be demoted and didn't have to clear waivers (like Tuch and Theodore). McPhee overplayed his hand though and no other NHL GMs really played ball (puck). Ship didn't even have to report to Chicago and McPhee acknowledged this. The 2nd demotion was based on this play (though in 3 games he played just 38 minutes with what sounds like 4th line duty, no PP time - I admittedly didn't see any of those games).
Now maybe Ship wasn't up to speed when he finally got game action, and it's as simple as that. But I also think McPhee could have handled it much better. It sounds like they made him promises and he had expectations - the reason why he finally signed there - when there were many teams after his services (though his contract/salary probably blew any chances McPhee could flip him).
It's an overall weird situation. Maybe he simply isn't good enough for the NHL, but note sure he was given the proper platform to acclimatize to the league. Maybe he could have had a better attitude about the situation. Some of this might also have gotten lost in translation. He probably got some bad advice along the way.
Some of the headlines along this weird Ship journey:
Oct 9: McPhee: Shipachyov demotion not about performance
"Shipachyov and his agent were upset and didn't initially understand the reasoning for the demotion, but they were reassured that "this is a roster move and it's not about performance," McPhee told NHL.com's Nick Cotsonika."
www.thescore.com/news/1394730More on this here:
sinbin.vegas/mcphee-speaks-about-vadim-shipachyovs-situation-in-press-conference/*Might affect Vegas getting Nikita Gusev (who I once dubbed Picasso on ice at Calgary WJCs) to come across the pond) - it's mentioned in above link
Oct 10: McPhee denies rumour Shipachyov wants out
“There is no truth to that," McPhee told the Las Vegas Sun of the rumours. "He’s not allowed to go back. He’s under contract with us.”
“...[Shipachyov and his agent] didn’t understand initially. But they do now. This is a roster move that’s not about performance. The three guys we sent down have all earned the right to be here. And we’ll get them here at the right time or as soon as we can.”
www.tsn.ca/mcphee-denies-rumour-shipachyov-wants-out-1.880258Oct14: Vadim Shipachyov recalled to the Vegas Golden Knights due to injury needs
Nov 10: What went wrong in the Vadim Shipachyov-Golden Knights soap opera
The Ship is sailing back to Russia. This messy divorce is finally finished.
“You just can’t practice and adjust to this game,” McPhee said. “Everyone here was playing better than he was. You have to do things the right way and whoever plays well plays.”
"Shipachyov’s representatives also fumbled this situation embarrassingly. Players can’t make money without playing. That being said, whoever got in Shipachyov’s ear and told him not playing in Chicago and getting suspended was a better option than playing hockey should not be representing players at any level. Shipachyov was practicing for the Wolves one day, took part in morning skate the next and then had a change of heart the night of a game. Someone got into his ear and convinced him to make a bad business decision."
Nov 11: Vadim Shipachyov is not happy with George McPhee
"There had been differing reports as to why McPhee initially assigned Shipachyov to the AHL. McPhee himself said that Shipachyov had been an on-ice disappointment; but other reports characterized the demotion as purely a paper transaction: Vegas had exceeded their carrying capacity."
"To hear it from him, Shipachyov was pressured into terminating his contract all along, and poor treatment from McPhee was just how that pressure was applied. "
www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2017/11/11/vadim-shipachyov-not-happy-george-mcphee/Nov 12: Shipachyov in His Own Words (Translated)
"In the NHL I didn’t get what I was promised, but whatever happens will only make you stronger. "
"We won, but the coach told me that I wouldn’t play much anyway. They told me that all was good, but I was playing on the fourth line. I didn’t even need to play on the power play, I simply wanted to play in each game."
thehockeywriters.com/vadim-shipachyov-golden-knights-ska/Nov 13: Golden Knights’ McPhee on Shipachyov: ‘Sometimes it just doesn’t work’
"But on Oct. 25, after a brief stint in the NHL, Shipachyov was sent back to the AHL — this time with the instructions to play with the Wolves.
“He needed to assimilate more and work on his pace of play,” McPhee said. “We were willing to work with him. He needed some time to play to see if he could adjust to the pace of play of the North American game with a smaller rink. But he wasn’t willing to do that.”
"Today, however, high-priced Russian free agent Vadim Shipachyov retired from the NHL and returned to his home country after only 32 minutes of ice time with the Golden Knights, marking what could be McPhee’s first real misstep."
"The real mistake was in talent evaluation. Believing so strongly that Shipachyov was good enough to be a top-line center, McPhee outbid other NHL teams to get him, then realized what a mistake it was after only 32 minutes on an NHL rink."
lasvegassun.com/news/2017/nov/09/golden-knights-mcphee-on-shipachyov-sometimes-it-j/***
Damn it - now we'll never know what The Ship would have gotten in JGHL FA/Unassigned List bidding!!!